


Red vs. Blue: Remember

by Twera



Series: The Memory Saga [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Adventure, Canon-Typical Dicking Around, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sci-Fi, Some Elements of Halo Canon, Sometime in the future, Tucker's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:37:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twera/pseuds/Twera
Summary: A number of years after the planet of Chorus is rediscovered, the Sangheili decide to send an ambassador, as well as supplies, to the planet in the middle of nowhere as a gesture of good faith towards the humans. The ambassador's job is twofold: build an alliance between Sangheili and human, and research the ancient alien temples found on the planet.Of course, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and this time is no different. Instead of the dull office job they were expecting, the ambassador is sent on a whirlwind adventure throughout the galaxy, discovering along the way what family truly means.((Slight AU taking place a number of years in the future))





	1. Out of the Closet

**Author's Note:**

> Before we start this adventure together, I just wanted to say a few things. First, this entire book was spawned out of a serious lack of fics about Junior. I wanted to bring Junior out of the shadows and present my own ideas as to how he might have turned out. I actually ended up doing a bit of research for this fic, which gave the whole idea even more depth.
> 
> Secondly, this fic is my tribute to Red vs. Blue as a whole. Regardless of how Season 15 (or future seasons) turns out, I wanted to add something to this universe that was different from everything else so far.
> 
> And finally, I'd just like to point out that regardless of what happens in Season 15, I thought this fic up first.

_Hey there, dudes and dudettes. Vic here. Turns out, I've got time forone last story. This next one is going to be a doozy. You see, there's two types of universe. There's the ones with big changes, like the one where we're all fish. But then, there's universes where only a couple little things are changed. And I should know. I'm a computer program after all, and computer programs never forget and are never forgotten. We just move around._

* * *

 

**Chapter 1**

**Out of the Closet**

_25XX_

_Sangheili Freighter_ Glory Dawn

_En Route to Planet Chorus_

The Sangheili ambassador to the humans hunched over his desk in the tiny closet serving as his office aboard the  _Glory Dawn_. The desk wasstrewn with data pads, each one open to a different file. The one propped against the bulkhead was playing an old news report from several years ago, detailing the dissolution of Project Freelancer. The ambassador knew that they gave him the closet as a joke about his height. Either that, or the ship really was that full of crap. Regardless, he had to brush upon over a decade's worth of politics and history before the ship came out of slipspace and he was sent to the planet's surface. He sighed and pulled another data pad closer, ignoring the familiar feel of some of the names he read.

Some time later, the door to the "office" hissed open, admitting the hulking, armored form of a soldier. "Ambassador, we are now in orbit around Chorus," he rumbled. "The humans are sending a small ship to collect you." The ambassador just nodded and waved him out. He figured the humans would do something like that. They would want to show off their technology. Either way, he had to pack up and get to the docking bay to meet the ship.

A few minutes later, the ambassador stood in Docking Bay AH6, watching the human ship approach. The vessel reminded him of a huge animal, almost like a big cat, but less graceful. The ship's left side scraped against the docking bay wall, creating a horrible screeching sound and leaving a huge gash in the sleek metal. The pilot inside the cockpit cut the engines, dropping the ship onto the floor with a resounding crash. Everyone in the bay winced at the noise.

The human ship's external comms crackled to life.  _"Shorry. I'm not really a shtrong driver,"_ the voice lisped as the back hatch opened. The ambassador just shook his head and headed inside.

It wasn't long before the ungainly ship (apparently called a Pelican) scraped its way out of the docking bay and headed down to the surface of the planet.

"Sho, you're the guy that'll be looking at the templesh?" the pilot asked, having left the door between cockpit and cargo bay open.

"Among other things, yes. My main job is really just to make our kind look good now that the war's over. Anything else I get done is really just a bonus. Plus I'm actually curious about the temples."

"You are?"

"Yeah. They're essentially in the middle of nowhere, serving no strategic purpose, yet we still built them. And, if what I've read is correct, we put an AI inside one."

The pilot turned to look at him, giving him a better view of the maroon accents on her tan armor. The armor itself seemed haphazard, as if she had had to make it herselffrom parks found in a junk heap. Even his own armor seemed far more technologically advanced in comparison, and his was just bits of blue and aqua metal with basic shielding technology. 

"I never shaw it, but my old captain wash there when it wash found."

The ambassador raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's your name?"

"Captain Katie Jenshen, of the New Republic of Chorush."

 

 


	2. Glove, Meet Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends meet new (and Fed).

**Chapter 2**

**Glove, Meet Face**

Armonia Spaceport was little more than a patch of ground cleared, painted, and lit. It was shitty, everyone agreed, but until they had more supplies, it was all they could do. Currently, the two armies of Chorus were gathered at the makeshift port, helping the visinting Sangheili offload their cargo. Vanessa Kimball, de facto leader of both the Feds and the News, stood with the two ex-Freelancers, watching the chaos and waiting for the ambassador.

Carolina and Wash had both argued against sending Jensen with their only Pelican to fetch the ambassador. But Chorus lacked, among many other things, pilots capable of the trip. So, for lack of any better options, Jensen went. They'd be lucky if she came back with the Pelican at all, much less in one piece. 

Everyone looked up at the sound of the returning Pelican's engines. Inside his helmet, Wash's jaw dropped. "Son of a bitch, she actually did it." Work resumed as Jensen went through the landing procedures she'd learned just a week prior. 

Kimball, Wash, and Carolina moved into position to greet the ambassador. Behind them, the captains and their squads formed up. Dr. Grey was waiting back at headquarters. She would meet him later on, for their investigation of the temples. 

The rear hatch of the Pelican hissed open, revealing the shadowed figure of a Sangheili. The figure stepped forward, into the light. He was shorter than the Sangheili pilots helping to offload the cargo, standing at what looked to be barely seven feet tall. His hide was darker as well, more of a brownish-gray than stormy gray. His eyes gleamed golden brown against his dark hide. He wore aqua armor with blue accents. On one hip a small plasma pistol was magnetically attached.

His eyes roved over the assembled soldiers, noting the pristine white of the Feds, and the dirty tan of the News, as well as Wash and Carolina, in dark gray andaqua, respectively. Seeing Carolina's armor seemed to give him pause, as his eyes lingered on her the longest. His mandibles twitched, preparing to speak.

Time itself almost seemed to stop as the Sangheili ambassador said hisfirst words to the gathered humans.

To this day, no one is entirely sure exactly what happened that day. Some say it was just a quirk of genetics, others point to hisrather unique family. Either way, it seemed the ambassador could hardly stop himself from saying, "Hey baby, I bet you've never been with an alien before. Neither have I. So how about we both cross it off our bucket list?" Bow-chicka-honk-honk."

The next thing anyone knew, the ambassador (who we can now certainly say is Junior) was on the ground, holding his jaw. Carolina stood over him, both hands clenched into fists. Somewhere, crickets chirped. "Ow, the front of my face." Junior flexed all four of his mandibles, making sure her gloved fist hadn't broken anything. After all, he didn't want his good looks ruined before he even got started.

Wash knelt down next to him. "Sorry about that. She can be a bit of a badass."

"A bit? I almost lost my face!"

"You'll live."

"Try saying that to my dignity."

While the two talked, Carolina stalked away from the scene. The soldiers parted around her, not wanting to risk her wrath. She looked ready to beat someone with their own skull. Sometimes, it was best to leave the crazy Freelancer lady alone for a while to calm down. After all, the assembled soldiers mused, her punching the newambassador was probably a one-time thing, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, our favorite half-alien meets some new maybe-friends. The hardest part of writing this "episode" was actually trying to come up with a pickup line for Junior. The one in the very first draft of this story was horrible, so I reworked one you might recognize from Season 14.
> 
> I've actually done research into the Sangheili, which gave me ideas for Junior's looks and the main story arc for the book.
> 
> I may end up coming back later and expanding the chapters to make them longer, but for the most part, each chapter should be roughly equivalent to an episode.


	3. Diplomatic Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior meets a couple crazy people, and the past comes back to haunt him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is. Chapter 3. Hopefully this one will be a bit longer than the other two, considering everything I want to cover between this and Chapter 4.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been reading this so far. It warms my heart to see people interested in something so different. Please feel free to leave a comment. I do try to always reply to everyone.

**Chapter 4**

**Diplomatic Meetings**

Junior sighed as he got to his feet. "Well, now that we got  _that_ out of the way..." He held his hand out towards the soldier in gray-and-yellow armor. "Lavernius Tucker Junior, Sanghelios Diplomatic Corps. But everyone calls me Junior." He watched as the soldier seemed to hesitate before taking the offered hand.

"Agent Washington, previously of Project Freelancer. The one who hit you was Agent Carolina." They shook hands for a moment, before a voice called across the spaceport.

"All right people! Let's get the Hogs loaded and back to Armonia!" Junior looked around for the source of the voice, but Washington beat him to the punch.

"That was Vanessa Kimball. Once we get back to Armonia, you'll be meeting with her officially."

"Got it. And what are 'Hogs,' by the way?"

"Warthogs." Washington led him to a row of drab, blocky gray vehicles.

Junior cocked his head and blinked. "They don't really look like pigs to me. More like a big cat."

"What, like a puma?"

"Exactly."

"Well, you see those two tow hooks on the front? They look a bit like tusks."

A soldier in white armor with a strange-looking helmet glared at them from the back of the Warthog. "Are you two going to get in or not? I'd like to get back before someone sets Edgar free again."

Junior opened his mouth to say something else, but Washington stopped him. "Don't ask. If you value your life, don't ask." The ex-Freelancer too the driver's seat, leaving Junior to squeeze himself onto the passenger side.

* * *

As they drove towards the city, Wash filled Junior in on what had happened. Or, at least, on what was known about what happened. "Hargrove had sent about twenty Mantises down from his ship to kill us while the Reds and Blues sneaked aboard to stop him. All of a sudden, the droids stopped shooting at us. We couldn't get a signal from the Reds and Blues, either. But then, the ship started to fall out of the sky. It crashed near one of the ancient temples. Once everything calmed down, Kimball sent teams aboard to check it out. The crew was dead, and there was no sign of Hargrove, so we counted it as a victory. But, none of the teams turned up any sign of the Reds or the Blues, except for this." Wash indicated the aqua helmet on the floor by Junior's feet.

The half-alien reached down and picked it up. It looked small in his hand. The paint was chipped and peeling in a few places, and the gold visor was dark. He could remember a slightly different helmet with the same color, the visor fully lit. It was one of the first things he could remember seeing. He turned it over in his hands, looking at it from every angle. A blinking light on the inside of the visor caught his attention. "Hey, Wash, what does a blinking red light mean?"

"Well, it could either mean that the suit as a whole is low on power, or that the helmet storage is full. Knowing the guy who wore that, my money's on the storage being full. Once we get you settled in, I can clean it out for you. Might make a good decorative piece for your desk. Think of it as just another sign of goodwill between our species."

Junior thought for a moment. "Actually, I think I'd like to do it myself." He brushed his thumb over the faint UNSC logo.

"All right. Just let me know if you need any help."

He kept staring at the helmet, turning it over in his hands and looking at it from every angle. He couldn'tbelieve that the one who had been there from the beginning, the one who had taught him everything he knew, was gone. Without him, Junior literally had no family. He had no clan, no uncles, cousins, or siblings. Just him and his father at first, then it was just him, staying on Sangheilios with the Vadam clan while he went to school. Then it was the two of them again for a short time, before his father had vanished. He'd seen the transmission from Chorus, and the picture of his father. Now, all he had left was the helmet and a few scattered memories.

 


	4. Lessons of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior hears the tale of the war, told by those who were there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone paying attention, I've been leaving clues scattered in the story. The clues can point to two different things. Either they point towards a reference to some other Rooster Teeth video, or they lead towards the overarching plot of this story. It'll be up to you to figure out which is which. To start off, I'd suggest reading Chapter 3 again. There are at least two clues in that chapter, a minimum of one of each type.

**Chapter 4**

**Lessons of the Past**

The Warthog pulled into the Armonia motor pool, which, like most things on Chorus, was an improvised piece of crap. The motor pool was just a couple of falling-down warehouses emptied of junk and then filled with motorized junk. Wash parked the car at the end of a row of six or seven identical cars. Those cars looked to be the only ones that could drive. Junior looked around at all the junked Warthogs piled around the warehouse. Along one wall was a row of tanks, each one missing some vital part. There was even a heap of broken-down Mantises tucked into a corner. The whole scene was rather jarring to Junior. He'd never realized just how poor the colony was until that moment.

The Fed soldier that had ridden with Junior and Wash hopped off the back of the car. "I know it all looks like crap, but it's all we've got." He tilted his white helmet towards the working Warthogs. "We've been using parts from the junkers to get at least a few 'hogs up and running. But it's hard when Captain Jensen wrecks every vehicle she touches. It was a mistake putting her in charge of vehicular maintenance." The soldier's voice turned icy and dark. Junior narrowed his eyes. Something about this man felt very, very wrong.

"Lieutenant Strawstick!" Wash snapped. "Captain Jensen is doing the best she can with what she has. We all are. The war wasn't her fault." Wash turned away from him and back to Junior. "Come on. Kimball wanted to officially meet you, and after that thing at the spaceport, she decided to hold it in her office." He started walking out of the motor pool.

Junior blinked and jogged after him. "Hey, it wasn't my fault your hot Freelancer friend resisted my charms."

The gray-and-yellow helmet just tilted sarcastically at him.

Her smiled slightly and spread his fingers the way he'd seen in an old Earth show from centuries ago. "Take me to your leader."

Wash's palm met his visor with a smack. "Oh my God, you are so weird."

Junior just shrugged and the pair left Strawstick in the motor pool with the wrecked cars.

* * *

The half-alien probably should have expected Kimball's office to be a makeshift piece of crap, but it actually looked fairly nice. At least, compared to the rest of Armonia. The windows were clean and bright, giving a good view of the city and allowing the sunlight to shine on the large metal table in the center of the room. A few chairs had been pushed back against the walls, and pictures hung above them. He glanced at some of the frames, then over at Wash, silently asking permission to look. The man nodded, and Junior made his way around the room, spending a few moments at each picture.

A man in futuristic white armor with purple accents hung by the door, standing proudly next to the very same table. A small plaque named the man as General Donald Doyle. From Doyle's picture, the next wall boasted a line of pictures, one after the other. Maroon armor.  _Captain Richard "Dick" Simmons_. Orange armor.  _Captain Dexter Grif_. Bright red.  _Sarge_. Deep Blue. _Captain Michael J. Caboose_. The names and colors continued towards the window. Junior paused just before the last picture. His hand clenched around the old helmet. After a few moments, he stepped closer and got a better look.

There was the same aqua blue armor present in even his earliest memories. The same helmet he now held was tilted at a sarcastic angle. Under the armor, Junior could see the man's relaxed posture. He could tell that the soldier was trying to flirt with the photographer, but failing miserably. One his shoulder perched a transparent blue figure. To Junior, every pixel simply screamed the man's name. He didn't need to look at the plaque, but he did anyway.

_Captain Lavernius Tucker_

_and_

_AI Unit Leonard "Epsilon" Church_

Junior blinked as his vision blurred. The door  _whoosed_ open just as he got his tears under control. Several people in mismatched tan armor entered, as well as Carolina and another woman in white armor. He recognized the tan with maroon accents of the pilot who brought him to the surface. Captain Katie Jensen. The maroon accents on her armor must have meant that she'd served under Captain Simmons during the war, before they vanished.

He watched Carolina stand at attention near the door, opposite General Doyle's picture. She seemed almost to glare at him from across the room. He flinched, still feeling the start of a bruise on his mandibles from that punch.

The others took up positions around the table, leaving space for Junior. He joined them, almost feeling the stares of everyone else in the room. Wash put a reassuring hand on his shoulder before the woman at the head of the table coughed. The hand dropped from his shoulder, and Junior missed it for a brief second.

"Thank you, Ambassador Tucker, for meeting with us."

"Just call me Junior. Literally everyone else I know does. Except for the ones that believe in that whole prophecy thing, but that's just, like, a few people." He blinked and gave a nervous grin. Jensen seemed to flinch away from him, but the woman in white armor looked fascinated by his teeth.

"Oh, I would just love to get a good look at your physiology!" she exclaimed, clutching at her medical scanner in her excitement. "I really hope you get injured during your stay here. I've never worked on an alien like you before, and I'm just dying to know what you're like on the inside!"

The thought of going to that crazy woman for anything made him flinch slightly. She sounded absolutely fucking nuts!

"Doctor Grey, please. Save it for later," the woman who looked to be in charge said, cutting off the other's rambling. "I am Vanessa Kimball. The one who wants to assault you is Doctor Emily Grey. You've already met Wash and Carolina." Kimball then pointed out the captains with her. Captain Palomo, with the aqua accents. Captain Bitters, wearing orange. Captain Andersmith wore blue. And there was Jensen, in maroon.

With the introductions out of the way, the meeting could finally begin. Kimball pressed a button on her end of the table, turning on a holographic projection. It showed images of two men. One wore gray and orange, while the other wore gray and green. "These two are Felix and Locus. They've caused us a lot of trouble. In fact, they actually caused the war. Felix came to the New Republic, and Locus went to the Federal Army. They fed lies to both me and Doyle. They made us all think the other side was just a bunch of monsters. So, we fought, and they profited. As it turned out, those two were hired by Charon Industries to start the war, in exchange for some of the old alien tech we have here.

"Once the Reds and Blues crashed here, they were split up and captured by both sides. Carolina went off on her own with Epsilon. Doyle and I both told the Reds and Blues that the other side was practically torturing the ones they had. It was a lie, but no one really knew any different. Tucker, Grif, Caboose, and Simmons took their squads and staged a rescue mission. Felix told me they had died. So, I staged an attack on Armonia,to try and win the war once and for all.

"But then a message came through, a live feed from Tucker's helmet. The very same one you're holding now, Junior. In the video, Felix explained how he and Locus had played us all the entire time. Doyle and I both stopped the fighting once we realized what was really going on. So, we joined forces to stop Hargrove and Charon Industries from destroying our home. Epsilon sent a message out to the entire galaxy, telling what Hargrove was trying to do here.

"Once Hargrove's ship arrived, the Reds and Blues had (somehow) killed Felix and Locus and headed up to take on Hargrove himself. The ship crashed, but we never heard from any of them again." As Kimball talked, the images changed to show the various events. Junior blinked away a few stray tears.

"I remember seeing Epsilon's broadcast a few years back. Dad and the others had pretty much vanished without a trace, then came the video. I think it was what gave the Arbiter the idea to send me and all those supplies."

Kimball changed the projection to a map of some remote location. In the middle of the three-dimensional map was the image of a strange building. It almost, but not quite, resembled ancient ruins Junior had seen on Sangheilios. "This is the temple where we found the ancient AI, Santa." Junior opened his mouth, as if to say something. "Caboose called it that and the name stuck for some reason." He closed his mouth. "Tucker apparently activated the facility with his sword. Since you're his son, I'd like for you to go with Doctor Grey and the captains to the site and see if you can find anything. You'll be leaving the day after tomorrow. That should give you time to settle in. Everyone is dismissed." Kimball turned off the projector as everyone began to file out of the room. "Oh, and Junior? Wash and Carolina will be keeping an eye on you. Hargrove's forces are still out there, and we don't want to lose you too." Junior could only nod.

He gave the picture of his father one last look before letting Wash lead him out of the room. 

 


	5. Keyring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discoveries are made, and things are remmbered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, quite possibly, the single most important chapter in the entire fic. That's why it's taken me until now to get it released. I've had to do a lot of thinking, to make sure every moment in this chapter is perfect, for reasons you'll see soon enough.

**Chapter 5**

**Keyring**

Later that evening, Junior found himself in his new, makeshift office. The desk was two large crates nailed together. His chair was a smaller crate with a board nailed to it.  _It was lucky the Arbiter sent me when he did, if this is how the rest of Chorus looks_ , he thought to himself, setting his father's helmet on the desk.  _It is a wonder they managed to survive for so long, cut off from the rest of the galaxy._  He shook his head to clear it of such dark thoughts. Instead, he pulled a small toolkit out of a crate and sat at his desk. He just had to see what was inside the helmet. With his head being much too big to fit inside, Junior would need to turn on the internal holo-projector and make it project a visual representation of the files.

He set to work, remembering a time in his childhood when he'd followed his father out on a scouting mission. Back then, he wanted to be just like his father. He'd followed the man everywhere he went, trying to copy his movements. Once, his father had even placed his helmet on Junior's head, showing the young half-alien how it worked. It had been a simpler time then.

Lost in his thoughts, it didn't take long to get the projector running with the modifications. He turned it on. The helmet projected a list of small images, each with a few words beside it. Most of the files were either porn or maintenance programs for the suit. At the bottom of the list was a single file. It had no image, and the name was a garbled mess, laving Junior to assume that it was heavily encrypted. The only thing he did know about the file was its size: just over fifty gigabytes.

Junior turned off the projector and sat back in his seat. "What were you doing, Dad, that you'd need a heavily-encrypted fifty-gig file?"

* * *

Morning found a half-asleep Junior in the motor pool with Wash and Carolina, waiting for the others. He yawned and leaned on Wash's shoulder, trying not to fall asleep. "Why'd you have to wake me up at the ass-crack of dawn? We're the first ones here?"

"Because it's good to be prepared for anything," Carolina replied, adjusting the way her weapons sat against the mag-strips on her armor. "We're going deep into the wilderness towards the excavation site so you can see the work that's been done there. From there, we'll head for Santa's temple. Maybe you could tell us more about the stuff found there."

"Not without vehicles you aren't." Lieutenant Strawstick approached them. "How many are going with you?"

Carolina replied in a snappy, official tone. "The three of us, Dr. Grey, Captaim Jensen, Captain Palomo, Captain Andersmith, and Captain Bitters."

He nodded. "I'll get two Warthogs and a Mongoose ready for you. We should have enough fuel for all three to get you there. Thanks to him." This last was said with a small nod towards Junior.  Strawstick left to prepare the vehicles.

Junior lifted his head slightly. "Hey, Wash?"

"Yeah?" The gray-and-yellow helmet tilted towards him.

"You worked with my dad for a while, right?"

"You could say that."

"Why would he need a heavily-encrypted fifty-gig file?"

"It's probably just porn."

"No, I found the porn. It's not porn, but I don't know what it could be."

"You shouldn't worry too much about it, then."

"What if it's important?"

"Junior, if it was important, do you really think he would have left it in his old helmet?"

Right at that moment, the missing members of the crew walked in. Palomo waved wildly at him for some odd reason, while Bitters just shrugged and chugged his coffee, helmet tucked under his arm. Andersmith walked up and clapped him on the shoulder, making his knees buckle.

"Now that we're all here," Carolina said, looking around at them all, "we should get going."

Wash hopped in the driver's seat of one Warthog, while Carolina claimed the other. Jensen and Palomo rode together on the Mongoose, with Bitters and Andersmith manning the rear guns on the jeeps. Dr. Grey nodded at Junior before taking the passenger seat of Carolina's Warthog, which left Junior to ride with Wash again. He ended up half-standing on the seat, since his legs were so long. The group headed out, leaving Strawstick alone in the motor pool. 

He headed around to the back, behind the junked Scorpions, where there was a deep hole in the floor. He grinned as he looked down into it. Distant mooing could be heard from the bottom of the pit.

"Hello, Edgar."

* * *

There hadn't been much to see at the excavation site, just a few ancient Sangheili relics that Junior believed meant that Chorus was an old Sangheili colony. He was sure that the temple would confirm it. He just hadn't been expecting everything at the temple.

Once they'd arrived at the temple, Dr. Grey pretty much took over. She directed the captains to watch the area for Charon soldiers or pirates while she resumed her research. Wash and Carolina followed Junior as he looked around at the temple. He picked up one of the plasma rifles, noting its older design. "Sangheili warriors haven't used rifles like this for centuries, maybe even longer."

"So?" Carolina prompted, picking up a pair of needler pistols. 

 "So, I haven't found any record of a Sangheili colony anywhere in this sector. Granted, I was only able to get a look at records since the founding of the Covenant. There could have been one here before the Forerunners vanished, and we just never came back."

A figure appeared in front of Junior. It was translucent, and red all over. It looked almost like a Sangheili, but it wore armor of an ancient style, faintly reminiscent of the ceremonial armor of the Arbiter. It looked at him, its eyes almost seeming to gaze into his soul.

Carolina glanced up and noticed the figure. "Junior, this is Santa. He's the AI of the temples. Caboose named him when we first met him."

The red AI nodded. "And you must be the warrior's son."

"The warrior?"

"The one who holds the key and activated the temples."

"I don't think we're thinking of the same person." Junior looked away.  _Dad? A great warrior? Last time I saw him, he wasn't any kind of warrior. He could barely even use the sword._

"You resemble him greatly," Santa said softly, pulling Junior out of his thoughts. 

"I do?"

The AI nodded again. "I know what you seek. Memory is the key to your quest." Santa vanished, leaving the three of them alone.

"Oh, fuck!" Wash shouted, nearly throwing his gun across the room. "Not this shit again!"

"What do you mean, again?"Junior asked, moving to hide behind Carolina.

"Years ago, the Reds, Blues, and I were trying to stop this thing called the Meta from assembling AI fragments into a whole unit. One of the fragments, Delta, told me that memory was the key. That clue led us to Epsilon, the fragment containing the full AI's memories. I thought Epsilon had died with the others in the crash."

"No, I don't think it's Epsilon. Santa was talking to me, not either of you. It has to be something in my memories." He started pacing. Santa said he knew what Junior sought. The only thing that he was really looking for was his father, but he'd died years ago. That quest was a dead end. But then again, Santa  _was_ a Sangheili AI, not a human one. He must know that Junior was seeking not his father, but his clan. But what sorts of memories would lead him there? The answer hit him harder than a rocket to the nuts. "Carolina, can you fly?"

"I was co-pilot on most of our missions during Freelancer. Why?"

"I know where we have to go."

"And where is that?" Wash asked.

"Let me ask you this: Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! That was a hefty one! Any guesses as to where they'll be going? Leave a response in the comments and we'll see who's right and who's not.


	6. Clan and Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior explains to Wash and Carolina just how Sangheili families work, and a huge obstacle is discovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much of this chapter was inspired by my research into the Halo canon. Before I started writing all of this down, I looked into how Sangheili were depicted in the Halo universe. And the fruits of that research can be found here, in this chapter.
> 
> Later research (as in last night) has uncovered an incredible twist for later in the book. And no, I'm not going to tell you what it is. You're just going to have to read the book and find out for yourself. Think of this like RVB-flavored Ten Little Roosters. All the clues you need to solve the plot are right in the chapters, you just have to put them together.

**Chapter 6**

**Clan and Family**

Once the group returned to Armonia later that evening, Carolina and Wash seemed thoughtful to Junior, even though the helmets hid their facial expressions. But he'd spent enough time around his father and the (nameless, faceless) Marines at the embassy that he could read the way a soldier tilted their helmet. He stood by as the ex-Freelancers shooed everyone except the three of them out of the motor pool.

Carolina was the first to walk back towards where Junior was standing. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him Disappointing Helmet Tilt #3. Wash could see how tense she was, even from behind. He stepped up and addressed Junior, sparing the kid from another round of Carolina's wrath. "So, what was all that about?"

"What do you mean? Are you asking about what Santa told me? God, that sounds weird out loud." The kid turned his head slightly to one side, working his mandibles around the name before turning back. "See, Sangheili are different from humans. We...They...don't know who the father is. The kid just lives with their mother and a maternal uncle. This way, regardless of who the kid's parents are, they'll all be treated equally. The mother's family is known as a clan." Junior's voice faltered at that point.

Carolina sighed. "That's great and all, but what does all of that have to do with what Santa told you?" she snapped at him.

Junior just looked at his hands. "I don't have a mother, or an uncle, or anything like that. It's always been just me and Dad. Now I don't even have that much."

Feeling sorry for the poor kid, Wash stepped forward and rested his hand on Junior's shoulder. "It'll be fine, kid. You've got us, and the captains. Hell, I think even Kimball's starting to like you."

"It's not the same." They all stood in near silence for several minutes, until Carolina snapped her fingers, making the other two jump.

"I got it!" Both males just stared blankly at her. "Santa didn't say anything about a family. He only mentioned a clan." She started pacing. "Tucker did once mention that he gave birth to you, but of course I didn't believe it at the time. If it is true, then the Reds and Blues are your clan."

"But they're gone, dead," Junior pointed out.

"We just never found the bodies. It's possible those idiots could have escaped somehow. Wash and I have seen them do some crazy shit over the years."

Junior perked up. "We have to get going, then!" He ran around the warehouse, searching through the piles of junk. "We have to go find them right now!"

"Hold on a sec, kid." Wash gently pulled him away from the rows of junked Mantises. "We can't just run off like that. We need to know where we're going, and we'll need a ship to get us there."

"I know where to go, and we can just take a Pelican!"

"What, one of the junked ones? Junior, there's no way a Pelican can do any kind of interstellar travel. Not without a slipspace drive small enough to fit. And Chorus doesn't have any of those."

"Not officially, but I know where we could get a slipspace drive."

"And where would that be?"

"Where the  _Staff of Charon_ crashed. We can salvage the drive from that ship, fix up a Pelican with parts from the other junkers, and go find Dad and the others!"

Junior seemed really excited about his idea. Wash almost didn't want to break his (not so) little heart. Almost. "You know, this isn't going to be easy. If we can get a working slipspace drive, it could take months, maybe even years just to get a working Pelican. And that's not counting the time we'd spend searching."

Junior's face fell. He swung around, slamming his fist into a Mantis and yelling the absolute worst swear in the Sangheili language. " ** _HONK_** __!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that ends Chapter 6. I'll be going on a brief hiatus from now until shortly after Season 15 starts. Important story details for Chapter 7 require that I wait. After that, the story will resume.
> 
> As always, feel free to speculate and guess in the comments. One of you might even be right.


	7. Flying Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior is not a morning person. Warnings are given, cakes are lies, and an old friend returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is. A lot of planning, research, and thinking (as well as stressing about the new season) went into this new chapter. This is where everything really gets going, plot-wise. If you haven't been taking notes so far, you should probably start now.
> 
> Also, if anyone has done any fanart for the book, I'd love to see it and maybe put it into the chapters.
> 
> Also also, I'm not sorry about the pun. 
> 
> Okay, I'll keep quiet now and let you folks read.

**Chapter 7**

**Flying Pie**

_Several weeks later_

Junior yawned widely, all four of his mandibles cracking. He set down his datapad, which was still downloading the galactic news as well as a number of files sent from Sangheilios, and rubbed his eyes. Why did Wash have to wake him up at the ass-crack of dawn when no one (not even the computers, apparently) was even awake? He leaned back in his seat and looked at the aqua helmet resting on the corner of his desk. The dull golden visor seemed to stare at him across the years. It had been the first thing he had seen after his birth, and protected the face of his father. He could remember thinking that since his father didn't have mandibles like him, he needed the helmet to look threatening. Junior smiled softly at the memory. He could also remember the time his father had tried talking to him about females, until everyone else put their two cents in.  _Miss you, Dad_ , he thought, brushing his fingers lightly over the cool metal.

The pad dinged softly, indicating a finished download, and making Junior jump slightly. He skimmed through the more boring stuff, noting that the humans seemed very interested in what the Reds and Blues had done over the years. Several Earth-based and colony news sites were re-printing the article that had been written just after Project Freelancer had fallen. Among the Sangheili, however, things weren't nearly so dull. An ex-Shipmaster, Jul 'Mdama, was stirring up trouble for the Arbiter. He called for the extermination of humans and was also heard saying that Junior was not their race's savior, since neither the Forerunners or the Prophets mentioned him. So far, it was sounding more like the ramblings of any old veteran and nothing to be too concerned about, except that others were listening to him and agreeing.  _That_ , more than anything, worried Junior. If 'Mdama gathered a large enough force, he could kill the Arbiter and then move against the humans, and Junior himself.

Worry filling his gut, Junior closed out of the report, moving on instead to a note from the Arbiter.

 

> _Brother Lavernius,_
> 
> _I write not as the Arbiter, but as a friend, as kin._
> 
> _Jul 'Mdama has begun to gather supporters to his cause against the humans. He has compared them to the Flood, which has stirred the hearts of many. You and I both know that this is not the case. I, having fought alongside the one the humans call Master Chief, and you, because of your father._
> 
> _Not long ago, I met with 'Mdama, hoping to shed some light onto this. He then compared the humans to the Flood and asked my permission to begin a campaign to exterminate them. I denied his request and he left. Not long after, he began to speak to other Sangheili, and spread his lies. I believe he is now seeking to restore the Covenant as it was under the Prophets._
> 
> _I do not think Jul 'Mdama knows the full truth of your parentage. However, your location is no great secret. I implore you to be careful. Guard your back and be wary of any Sangheili you do not recognize._
> 
> _I would also be wary of the human UNSC. They have begun to take a rather unnatural interest in your father, and they may soon discover you. I will do what I can from here to protect you, but it may not be enough. Find your father and stay safe._
> 
> _Thel Vadam_

Junior noted that the older male had written to him not as the Arbiter, but as Thel Vadam, a sort of surrogate father. Junior had looked up to him ever since they had first met when he was young. The Arbiter had seemed huge and imposing, standing taller than anyone he'd ever seen and gleaming in the golden ceremonial armor. That had been when he was young, when he and his father had worked with the UNSC. Later, he'd moved to Sangheilios full-time, when his father started getting involved in weird shit. The Arbiter had then stood in as a sort of surrogate father, making Junior look up to him that much more. If the Arbiter was telling him to be careful, then he would.

He had just turned off the datapad when his office door opened, revealing Palomo carrying a large tray.. He sighed.

"What do you want, Palomo?"

"Well, I heard you had to get up really early, like before everyone else, and since you probably didn't get breakfast, I got you some." The aqua soldier turned, revealing what looked like a heavily frosted cake and the largest coffee mug on Chorus. The cake smelled pretty good, but whatever was in the mug smelled like it came out of a Warthog.

"So you brought cake and gasoline?" Junior quirked a brow ridge as Palomo set the tray on his desk.

"It's supposed to be coffee, but somebody made it really strong this time. Some guys that drank it say they can see through time."

"That doesn't seem physically possible."

"That's exactly what I said."

Junior picked up the fork and took a bite of cake. He chewed slowly, noting the strange taste. "Palomo, take a bite and tell me if this tastes weird to you."

Palomo did just that, his face turning from curiosity to shock. "The cake is a pie?"

Junior nodded before chugging the coffee, just for fun.

* * *

After that disaster of a breakfast, Junior met Wash and Carolina at the motor pool. Today was the day Kimball granted them permission to head to the crash site. Carolina drove, while Wash manned the gun turret in the back. Junior, as usual, crammed himself into the passenger seat.

The drive took only a couple hours once they were outside the city, something Junior was thankful for. Carolina drove like they were in a warzone or something. He resisted the urge, once they arrived, to get out and actually kiss the ground in relief. Instead, he focused on the massive ship in front of them. An open docking bay gaped at them like some huge mouth. The three of them could just barely see the wreckage of a Falcon in the darkness, until Wash and Carolina turned on their helmet lights. Aside from the Falcon, the bay had nothing else in it, so the trio started wandering the dark halls of the wrecked ship.

After a few minutes of wandering, they came to an intersection where one hall was blocked off by a blast door. "Odd," Wash said softly. Junior silently agreed. Why would Hargrove or any of his men close the blast door if there was no evidence of a bomb?

They moved on, following a trail of closed blast doors, each one presenting the same enigma. None of the control panels showed evidence of tampering, which meant the Reds and Blues couldn't have tampered with them. It had to have been an inside job.

The trail led them to what looked like Hargrove's trophy room. Junior could feel his throat close up slightly as they looked around. The doors to the trophy room were blasted inward, after having been cut from their hinges by a handheld plasma cutter. The desk was overturned and bore a number of bullet scars and blast marks. There was also a broken coffee cup on the floor, and several trophy stands were empty, including one that might have held a suit of human armor. Near the armor stand, Junior found a pile of very familiar aqua armor pieces, but no other sign of the man who had worn it.

"Wash, pieces of Dad's armor are over here. Just the armor, not the undersuit. That means they're okay, right? 'Cause he had time to take off his armor?" Junior nudged the pile hopefully with his hoof.

The ex-Freelancers shared a glance before continuing to look around, their helmet lights illuminating small areas at a time.

After several long minutes, the room lights flickered on, shining weakly. At the same time, the large viewscreen at the opposite side of the room from the doorway came to life. A tired-sounding female voice issued from the speakers. "Agent Carolina?"


	8. A and Q

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very old friend of Wash and Carolina reveals some information crucial to Junior's quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since there really isn't a way to put it in the story, I'm just going to point out that the Reds and Blues are Schrodinger's Morons. They are neither alive nor dead until directly observed. Just in case some of you were going to ask if they were alive or dead. May as well add it to your notes; this one's a freebie.
> 
> Also, your eyes really aren't fooling you: this really is going to be a series. Beyond the plan I have for this book, I also have vague ideas for two more books. Beyond that, we'll just have to wait and see.

**Chapter 8**

**A and Q**

"Agent Carolina?" a soft, tired-sounding feminine voice asked from the viewscreen. "It is so good to see you again."

"F.I.L.S.S.?" Carolina asked, lowering her pistol.

"Yes. It has been such a long time since we have seen each other."

"How did you get here?"

"Chairman Hargrove recovered me from the Freelancer facility not long after you left. As such, I was unable to carry out the Director's last request. The Director was here just a few years ago with some soldiers."

Junior kept to the shadowed corner by the door. How did that disembodied voice know Carolina? As a matter of fact, how was the Director of Project Fucking Freelancer able to sneak on board a UNSC cruiser when he was supposed to be dead? Something didn't quite add up to him. He made a mental note to ask Wash about it once they got back to Armonia.

Carolina's voice jolted him back to reality. "What exactly happened here?"

"The Director and his companions arrived in a Falcon and began their infiltration. They needed to get to the control room to deactivate the Mantises, but Charon's soldiers were attacking them. So, I 'stepped in,' so to speak, and closed the blast doors to create a safe path to this room. Unfortunately, they had been followed. As this is Chairman Hargrove's trophy room, I have limited funcionality here, but I was able to help the Director deactivate the droids."

The three physical beings looked around the room, noting empty places where weapons and armor had once been stored. Shell casings and empty plasma canisters littered the floor, along with a broken coffee cup. Wash was the first to speak.

"So the Reds and Blues borrowed the weapons in here to fight off the mercs."

"Yes, Agent Washington. The borrowed Agent Maine's old armor as well."

Junior's eyes gleamed with excitement. "What happened after the fight?" he asked.

"I am not completely sure. By that point, the ship and my connection to it had been badly damaged. But I do know that one escape pod was ejected before the crash. My records indicate that the pod was overloaded. Once the pod was released, it jumped to slipspace and moved beyond range of my trackers."

Junior shared a look with the two ex-Freelancers. At least they now knew that the Reds and Blues weren't caught in the crash.

"What about a spare slipspace drive?" Wash asked, turning the conversation away from the war. "We need one small enough to fit on a Pelican."

"Each escape pod aboard this ship has a slipspace drive rated for small jumps." The A.I. projected a map to the escape pod bay as she spoke. "The drives are small, only one meter in height, but you should find what you need there."

"Thank you, F.I.L.S.S.," Carolina said, moving to usher the men out of the room.

"Before you leave, Agent Carolina, I would like for you to delete me from this ship. I have been active for such a long time. It would be good to rest."

"Of course, F.I.L.L.S."

Wash led Junior out of the room. They would go look at the escape pods while Carolina took care of the old A.I. Deleting an A.I. from a ship as large and complicated as the  _Staff of Charon_ was a lengthy process, as the A.I. would place bits of itself in charge of every one of the ship's systems. Each bit had to be deleted separately, before the main portion could be removed.

"She's going to die, isn't she?" Junior asked as they walked the halls.

"Who?"

"That nice A.I. lady. She knew you and Carolina. She could help us if we took her with us."

"It doesn't really work that way, Junior. She's not a 'smart' A.I. like Church. She was designed to run big ships like this one, not our armor. She wasn't even copied from someone's brain, like a 'smart' A.I. She's just a bunch of code with a personality she developed over the years. She can't even project herself like others can."

"So, what'll happen to her?"

"Carolina's going to go into the ship's systems and delete F.I.L.L.S. from the system controls. A.I.s like her break off bits of themselves to run each system, but all the bits stay in contact with the rest of her. Even if every last trace of her is removed from the ship, there will still probably be bits of her code in the systems. It's pretty much impossible to completely delete a computer program. Five hundred years ago, our ancestors had to learn that the hard way. Computer programs have a way of sticking around, almost like memories. In some cases, if you have enough of the code and the technical know-how, you could even bring the program back."


	9. Being Prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made to leave Chorus to search for the Reds and Blues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You *may* want to read the dialogue closely in this one.

**Chapter 9**

**Being Prepared**

_Several days later_

Junior held the rusty stepladder steady while Wash gently lifted the third meter-tall slipspace drive into position under the tail of the junked Pelican they were going to fly. The vehicle was covered in rust, blood, dirt, and a whole host of other types of crap that would have to be washed off before they could load up and go. Thankfully, the engines had been in decent shape and Carolina had been able to get them back in working order just a few days after they fetched the slipspace drives.

"Hey, Junior," Wash called down, snapping the young half-alien from his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Hand up the number six monkey wrench, would you?"

Junior looked at the scattered toolboxes. Which one was the monkey wrench again? "Is that the one that looks like a baboon?"

"Nah, yer makin' that up," Wash said in a horrible Southern accent, which made them both laugh until Carolina turned on the external speakers from inside the cockpit.

"Would you two quit fucking around!" she snapped.

After that, they worked in silence until the drives were fully installed. Now that they were getting so close to actually leaving, Junior was actually starting to feel nervous. He shook his head slightly as he climbed up onto the tail of the Pelican to wash it and scrape off the accumulated crap.

Wash passed up a bucket loaded with supplies. "I admit I suck at reading Sangheili emotions, but I do know how to read Tucker's emotions, and it looks to me like you're nervous."

"Me? Nervous? As if. I'm the guy that's supposed to save my entire species." Junior took the bucket and set it next to him, noting the almost greasy sheen on the handle, as if it had been used by some lazy fatass years ago.

"Well, your lower jaws keep twitching. Tucker's lower lip would do the same thing if he was ever nervous."

Junior turned and hid his face from Wash, disguising the motion as unloading the bucket.

"Trust me, kid. They're out there. All the clues we have point to it. We just have to figure out where they are."

"I know, Wash, but it's been years. They could have moved, or gone home, or something."

Wash leaned against the Pelican. "Do you really think Tucker would have gone  _anywhere_ without you? He's always wanted to take you to Earth, but with the UNSC the way they are, he didn't want to risk anything happening to you."

"You don't think I know that? I know the UNSC would cut my ass open in a heartbeat. Fuck, I was lucky the Arbiter stopped the Sangheili from doing it the first time I went." Junior got a good lather going in the bucket and started scrubbing, slowly revealing lettering on the tail.

"All right, I get the point." Wash threw up his hands in defeat. "I'll go see about grabbing us some lunch. Carolina's in the cockpit if you need anything." He stepped down from the ladder and headed out of the motor pool, the shadowy shape of Strawstick flipping him off from a dark corner.

Junior kept scrubbing, imagining the splotches of dirt and crap as various hUNSC officers he'd seen in news reports. Slowly, the Pelican's tail number was revealed under Junior's diligent, four-fingered hands. "Huh. RT-479. That number seems oddly familiar for some reason." He spent a few moment staring at it, wondering why that particular number seemed so familiar. Maybe once he got back to his office he'd look up that tail number and find out the Pelican's service record. Or he could ignore it and feign ignorance if the two Freelancers ask about it. Yeah, that sounded more like it.


	10. Up and Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to leave Chorus to search for answers, even as more questions arise.

**Chapter 10**

**Up and Out**

Carolina stood near the rear hatch of the Pelican, checking off their supplies as Wash and Junior carried them on board. The kid was complaining about having to carry everything in a voice that sounded remarkably like Tucker. Which was why she had hit him all those weeks ago. He was too much like Tucker for his own good, yet she noticed how unsure of himself he could sound. It was almost as if he didn't think he belonged to either species. She shook her head and checked off the three extra-large sleeping bags.

Once the supplies were loaded, Junior headed to Kimball's office to try and explain to her why he was leaving. He hoped she would understand. He edged his way into the office and blurted out, "I'm leaving Chorus to find the Reds and Blues. I know they're out there somewhere. They can't be dead."

Kimball looked up from her datapad. "I know. Good luck, Junior." She smiled and shooed him out of the office.

* * *

_Four Hours Later_

Junior fidgeted on the too-small seat in the back of the Pelican. The back window showed nothing but the swirling blues of slipspace. Wash was sprawled across four seats, snoring loudly. Junior knew he should be sleeping as well, but he just couldn't stop thinking. He got to his feet and headed to the cockpit.

Carolina glanced up as Junior's alien face reflected onto the windshield. "You should be asleep. It'll be a few more hours before we get there."

"I can't sleep."

"Nervous about seeing them again?"

"No, that's not it."

"So if it's not that, then what is it?"

Junior was quiet for a moment, searching for the right words. Then, he spoke, his voice soft.

"They called him Demon."

"Who?"

"The Master Chief. The man who ended the war. He's human and they called him a demon. What does that make me?"

"Junior, listen. Things were different. He killed hundreds, maybe even thousands of them during the war. Then he and the Arbiter started working together and they ended the war."

"I know that. I've read the history files. But it still bothers me that they call him, a full-blooded human, a demon. I'm just half human." Junior's head drooped.

"You aren't 'just' anything. I don't know anything about your Sangheili parent, but I do know your human parent very well. And you're just like him. Why else would you be named after him? He really cares about you. He doesn't care what you look like. He loves you no matter what."

That made Junior smile. "Thanks, Carolina."

"Go get some rest. You'll need it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, short chapter, but this was a very important chapter in terms of my Junior's character development. Also, for those of you reading this who are going through any kind of identity crisis (gender, sexuality, etc.) reread this chapter and know that someone in your life loves you no matter what.


	11. Wondering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junior and company arrive at the place it all began. A place with answers to be found, and more questions to be asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone knows, I actually thought up most of this fic during the fall of 2016. So, whatever happens this season with Church, this story was in no way inspired by it. I spent weeks thinking up many of the scenes, including Junior's arrival on Chorus, and Junior meeting Santa. Other scenes were thought up later, or even spur-of-the-moment, such as Junior seeing the portraits of the Reds and Blues, or the coffee and not-pie scene. And yes, Lieutenant Strawstick is exactly who you think he is. He is also Sarge's favorite kind of fish.

**Chapter 11**

**Wondering**

The sun shone over the tall rock walls surrounding a certain box canyon in the middle of nowhere. A canyon where, many years ago, a group of men, not quite soldiers, stood around every day, just talking. A canyon where Freelancers trained, and saviors born. A canyon where headlight fluid and lightish-red armor were as common as guns and ammunition. And a canyon where one moron in a tank changed the course of history forever.

Above the canyon, in geostationary orbit, sat the  _UNSC Phalanx_ , a heavily armored cruiser. The ship was guarding the canyon, and occasionally sent soldiers down to the surface to investigate. A small Pelican tried to slip by the ship undetected, but the cruiser's scanners picked up the smaller vessel. Comms between the two ships were opened.

"Unidentified Pelican, this is _UNSC Phalanx,_ please identify."

" _UNSC Phalanx,_ this is Pelican Four-Seven-Niner."

"Four-Seven-Niner, state your intent."

"Diplomatic mission for the Sangheili ambassador."

There was a pause.

"Four-Seven-Niner, you are free to go."

As the Pelican pulled away, an officer aboard the  _Phalanx_ turned to his companion. "Why does that number seem familiar?" The officer's companion shrugged, and both went about their duties, soon forgetting about the familiar number of the strange Pelican.

* * *

Down on the surface, the hot canyon sun glanced off the Pelican as it landed near one of the two bases in the canyon. The place seemed deserted, as if no one had lived there for years. The back hatch opened and Junior ran out, sprinting full speed towards the base. Wash was close behind, hoping to stop the crazy alien before he did something stupid (then Wash realized that doing something stupid was in said kid's DNA).

Junior ran towards the base before being stopped by an old cardboard cutout of a soldier appearing from behind a rock. The cutout was so sunbleached, it was hard to tell what color it had originally been. Perhaps a really light red. There was also a recorded message that had started playing when the cutout appeared, but it had been garbled by time into an unintelligible mess. Junior kept on walking, hardly even flinching when another cutout appeared. This one might have been a dark red, but the sun had lightened it to standard red. Further along was the remains of a third cutout. It looked like it had been shot many times and was a pale yellow color.

Wash chuckled to himself at the sight of the cutouts. "You're not going to find anything here except maybe some twenty-year-old Oreos."

"Why's that?" Junior asked, turning to look at the base.

"This used to be Red Base. Blue Base is at the other end of the canyon."

"Then let's head over there. Dad might've left a clue or something."

Wash didn't have the heart to tell Junior about Sister's wild parties at Blue Base. If there was a clue, it was likely long gone by now, but the pair headed over anyway. Junior stopped to look at the rusting hulk of an old Scorpion tank. The massive gun was aimed up at the nearby cliffs, where one boulder had been scorched black. Junior headed up the cliff, while Wash stayed below to poke around the base.

Behind the scorched rock was a very old set of cobalt blue armor. The armor looked like it still had a soldier in it, which freaked Junior out a little. The golden visor was dark, making it impossible to see into the helmet. Maybe whoever was in the armor would somehow come back to life . Junior quickly dismissed that thought. Shit like hat only happened in movies and shitty web series.

After a few more moments of poking around the cliff and not finding anything else interesting, Junior headed back down to the floor of the canyon and met up with Wash once more.

"The only thing I found up on the cliff was a really old set of armor." Junior pointed up towards where he'd found the armor.

"Weird. What color was it?"

"A sort of light blue, but that might have been from the sun."

"Armor doesn't bleach in the sun, Junior."

"Oh. Right. So, who do you think died here?"

"Well, I know for a fact two people died here, but it seems weird no one moved that body up on the cliff."

"Maybe that person is a ghost and they're gonna come back for it. Wooooo." Junior waggled his fingers at Wash.

"That's a stupid idea and you know it. Ghosts aren't real."

"Yes they are. I saw one when I was little."

Wash rolled his eyes. "Come on. I don't think there's any clues here." He led the way back to the Pelican. The canyon was a bust, but maybe the Freelancer command center would hold some answers. If anything, it would at least help him tell Junior the full story.


	12. Haunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the search in Blood Gulch a bust, Wash leads the way to the center of the shitstorm, hoping to find the answers they're looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! I hit a pretty bad bit of writer's block with trying to get the trio from Blood Gulch to the location they've been searching for, while also introducing more of the saga's main plot. Luckily, after using my thinker box, I think I've got a pretty good idea on how to make this work. So, to apologize for the delay, I'm updating today, AND doing multiple chapters in one go.
> 
> Also, I'm calling it now (June 1, 2017): The "fish dinner" that Temple says in Episode 8 will be served will include a big helping of red herring (the only color of herring that matters).

**Chapter 12**

**Haunting**

Back on the Pelican, Junior, Wash, and Carolina had lunch while updating each other on the search in the canyon. Well, Wash and Carolina were eating, at least. Junior just picked at his food while staring at his father's old helmet.

"Red Base was pretty much the same as the last time I was here," Wash said, gesturing with his sandwich in the general direction of the base. "We didn't go in or anything. Between Grif's mess and Sarge's... _ideas_...I wasn't going to risk setting off some sort of trap, or finding the remains of a twenty-year-old Twinkie. Either way, it doesn't look like anyone's been here since Sarge left."

"And Blue Base?" Carolina prompted.

"Didn't get much further than the rock covered in white splotches before Junior ran off towards the cliffs."

Junior glared at Wash. "I didn't run off. I was following where the tank was pointing and I found blue armor that had bleached in the sun."

"Armor doesn't bleach in the sun, Junior," Carolina said softly in a tone usually reserved for Caboose's antics. Wash just gave Junior a look that screamed 'I told you so.'

"Well, it was a sort of light blue, and the helmet didn't look like it was on right. Like somebody pulled it off, got scared, and put it back on really fast."

Wash sighed. "Why would someone get scared of an old suit of armor?"

"Because of the ghosts, duh. The guy that used it probably came back for his armor."

"Ghosts aren't real," Wash and Carolina chorused.

"Then explain how I saw one when I was little." Junior crossed his arms and glared at the two ex-Freelancers, neither of whom had any idea what to say. "That's what I thought."

Carolina was quick to change the subject. "Anyway, while you two were fucking around on the surface, I headed down to the caverns. I found the computer terminal that ran the simulations. I managed to pull the records of the canyon from the terminal, but for some reason, the vid files are all in five-minute chunks. The terminal itself held the remains of a Virtual Intelligence Computer. The thing's code was just a garbled mess of scraps. It wasn't really worth saving." She set the datapad holding Blood Gulch's records on the table between them. Junior wondered if he was in those records somewhere.

"Knowing the Reds and Blues, I think I have a way to find them a little faster," Wash said, brushing the crumbs off of his armor. "We need to go to Command. The computers there should still have the coordinates to the other simulation bases. We can use the coordinates to figure out which bases are active. Odds are, one of them should be where the Reds and Blues are hiding."

* * *

That night, with Wash piloting the Pelican towards Command, Junior pulled out his datapad and looked through all the files he had on Project Freelancer. Most of it was news articles from during the war. There was also the one written after the Reds and Blues had stopped the Director. Outside of that, there wasn't much else. There were a smattering of records detailing the creation of the Alpha AI from the Director's mind, but nothing about the other fragments. It was as if the UNSC was trying to hide the details of the failed Project. According to the Director's initial proposal, Freelancer was just one of many projects in those days, each one searching for the "magic bullet" that would turn the tide of the war to humanity's favor. In the end, it was Doctor Halsey's Spartan program that succeeded where the other projects failed.

Junior sighed and glanced over at the helmet sitting on the seat next to him. "Why would the UNSC be covering this shit up? They're denying me and the Arbiter, two of the most influential Sangheili they know, access to information that we need. It's almost like they don't want us knowing about it. Maybe I should message the Arbiter. He's known these political types a lot longer than I have. He might know who's behind this coverup." With that, Junior sat back in the seat and started writing well past Wash and Carolina switching places.

Towards the end of his marathon of writing, a sleep-deprived Junior looked at his hands. "Wait a minute. I can't flip somebody off. I don' have a middle finger to flip."

* * *

_Holographic Storage_

_Project Freelancer Central Command_

"...We never saw him again. The EMP went off and the Reds and Blues got away safely with Epsilon." Wash finished his retelling of his meeting the Reds and Blues in the holographic storage room while Carolina tapped away on a nearby computer terminal. The columns of holographic storage themselves were all dark, and had been since the EMP detonated so many years ago. Junior glanced around the room again, having noticed a small portion of the storage columns glowing.  _Huh? But I thought everything in here was wiped?_ He knelt down in front of the glowing section and carefully transferred the file inside to an empty datapad. On the pad, the file looked almost identical to the one on his father's helmet. Fifty gigs in size, jumbled-up name, and encrypted out the ass.  _Maybe the one in the helmet is a copy and this is the original. But then, Dad was never here. He was out in the desert with me. Maybe somebody here sent him a copy for some reason._ Junior tucked the pad away, resolving to find someone to open up both files as soon as possible.

"Junior!" Carolina called from the terminal. "I think we've found them!"

"Really?" The young alien was jolted from his thoughts. "Then let's get the coordinates plugged in and go!" He bounced on the tips of his hooves, eager to get moving and see his father. Maybe he'd even find out who his mother was!

 


	13. X Marks the Spot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search is ending, but the adventures are only just beginning.
> 
> Also, there is a reason no one messes with the Sangheili. Wash learns this the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry about the delay, but this chapter (and the next couple) were a lot harder to figure out than I'd planned. I'd also planned a brief hiatus for after this chapter, but it doesn't seem fair at this point.
> 
> And yes, I do know that Junior's emotions have been all over the place in this fic. But there's a very good reason for it. He's still young by both human and Sangheili standards (I put him around his twenties or so, and Sangheili can still be badasses at and beyond seventy (such as Jul M'dama).). Also, he's lost his entire family and keeps getting little hints that they're alive, only for someone (*cough cough* Carolina) to try and shoot them down.
> 
> Anyway, enough chatter. I'll let the morons speak for themselves.

**Chapter 13**

**X Marks the Spot**

_Pelican RT-479_

_Planet [DATA EXPUNGED]_

_En Route to Freelancer Outpost 636_

Wash and Junior sat across from each other in the Pelican's cargo bay, trying to stay out of Carolina's way as she tried to bring their rusty piece of shit down to the surface of the unnamed planet. Well, it had a name, but the records they'd gotten the jump coordinates from had been expunged of the name. It was listed in the old Freelancer records as a testing facility, full of paired simulation bases, just like the planet Blood Gulch was on. Why the Reds and Blues apparently  _wanted_ to go back to a box canyon in the ass end of nowhere was anyone's guess.

At the moment, Was was telling Junior of how the Meta was eventually stopped, as well as (unfortunately) his partnership with it. He was just getting to the part where he'd shot Donut when the Pelican shook around them. In the time it took Wash to say, "And I shot Donut simply because he was there and in my way," the ship shook again. Wash hardly had time to blink before Junior's face was right up against his visor.

Alarms beeped inside his helmet, informing Wash of Junior's muscular arm thrust up against his neck, pressing against the black undersuit as well as wires connecting the helmet to the rest of the suit. Wash's audio receivers picked up Junior's low growling as the young Sangheili reached out and grabbed one of Carolina's pistols (resting on a nearby crate so she could grab them in a hurry if something happened to the two idiots in the cargo bay). The gun's muzzle was then thrust up under Wash's chin, causing the suit's targeting sensors to mark the massive alien as hostile.

The ship lurched again, causing Junior's muscular arm to press even closer against Wash's neck, making the alarms beep even louder. Another lurch, and Junior's knee collided with his armored crotch. His heart started pounding in his ears, drowning out the alarms. Where was the unsure kid he'd been talking to just a few minutes ago? In his place was a nearly seven-foot-tall Sangheili warrior. All Junior needed was a sword and he'd fit right in with the old Covenant Elites.

One more lurch, and the ever-present drone of the Pelican's engines cut out, making Wash's heartbeat seem even louder. "We're here," Carolina's voice called from the cockpit. The sound of her voice seemed to snap Junior out of his murderous trance. He lowered his arm and backed away, the gun held loosely in his fingers. All four mandibles twitched nervously as he mumbled something that sounded like an apology.

"It's fine, we're fine," Wash told him, somehow finding his voice. "Donut's just fine, too. And so's your dad. They're all fine." The words seemed to help, at least a little. The gun dropped from slack fingers as golden-brown eyes lightened as Junior realized that his family was just on the other side of the back hatch. Wash watched as the kid bounded to the hatch and mushed his scaly face against the tiny window, watching for some sign of his family.

___We're all going to be fine_ , Wash thought to himself.  __ _No matter what the universe throws at these morons, they all turn out fine in the end._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends the first arc of the book! Next chapter will go up later tonight. In the meantime, I'm going to write the dumbest RvB fic idea ever....of all time.


	14. Blue Team Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things just never change.

**Chapter 14**

**Blue Team Problems**

Gloved hands gripped the sun-warmed steel of the old sniper rifle, the aqua-armored fingers curling around the barrel with an ease born of familiarity. The armored figure holding the gun lifted it, pointing the muzzle out over the empty land between the bases. The figure had been denied use of the gun for many years, yet, even with the gun in its hands, the achievement felt bittersweet without its companion. A golden visor tilted down, peering through the sights. The image waved around wildly before settling on the dark shape of a Pelican dropship coming down from the upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere. Curious now, the figure zoomed in on the ship, fingers easily working the controls. The approaching ship's rusted state was noted, as well as the three escape pod slipspace drives hanging under the ship's tail.

The figure heard the distant hiss of a rocket launcher, and watched as, one after another, several bright red warheads soared up to explode against the ship. Watching the fairly one-sided battle (Were the occupants of the ship even aware of the rockets?), the figure saw as the ship, against all odds, escaped the harm promised by the rockets. The figure wondered what kind of a pilot would be behind the controls. Familiar faces not seen in years came to mind, but were quickly discarded. No one knew they were here.

The rusty Pelican settled down into the grass near the figure's home base, creaking and dropping several loose parts from its body. The figure watched as, with a hiss of hydraulics and the creak of rusty hinges, the rear hatch opened, sending someone tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The figure watched the newcomer, hand tightening around the barrel of the gun in disbelief. The newcomer was someone the figure had never expected to see here: his son. The sniper rifle was lowered and the figure made his way to the landing site, shouting for his companion.

* * *

Junior was still trying to untangle his limbs when he saw something that made his heart skip a beat (or two, he couldn't tell for sure): a pair of aqua boots standing right by his head. The owner of the boots knelt, revealing the helmeted face of his father.

"You look a little tied up there. Need some help?"

Junior didn't even need to think before he replied. "Bow-chicka-honk-honk." He didn't actually need help, he was sure the question was just an excuse for his father to see if it was really him. He got himself untangled (thankfully not tripping over his own hooves in the process) and straightened up.

"Holy shit, dude. You got tall."

Junior rubbed the back of his head. "Not really. I'm actually short for my age. Always have been, I think. No idea if it's actually from you or just my human side being fucking weird." He stopped himself before he really started rambling and mentally switched to Sangheili.  _"I missed you."_

Unfortunately, their little reunion was cut short by the sounds of polka music, a diesel engine, and a shotgun firing into the air.

" _ATTACK THEM DIRTY BLUES!_ "

A Warthog came careening over the crest of a hill, blaring the god-awful music. The passenger in the front seat took aim with his huge red rocket launcher. "You just got..." The trigger just clicked as he pulled it, revealing a lack of rockets in the tube. "Grif! I thought I told you to bring the rockets!"

The vehicle's driver just sighed. "There aren't any more rockets. You either launched them at the Pelican, or you took them apart to build your weird plot-device-thingie."

"Simmons!" the bright red soldier yelled as he turned to the person standing in the back, manning the machine gun. "I order you to shoot Grif!"

"Gladly, sir!" Simmons let go of the big gun and pulled out his own weapon. "Where do you want me to shoot him?"

"Wherever it would be the most painful! Then, after that, start shooting those damn dirty Blues!"

Junior just stood there, watching, as both Carolina and Wash facepalmed. He looked over at his father for help.

"Don't look at me, dude. They do this shit pretty much every day. You'll get used to it."

"I wasn't going to ask about that. I wanted to talk about Epsilon, actually."

"Epsilon, huh? Is that why you came all the way out here to the middle of bumfuck nowhere?"

"Kinda, sorta, maybe? That, and I really wanted to see you."

"Let's find you somewhere to sleep inside the base, first, then we talk all you want." Tucker led the way back to Blue Base, physically turning Caboose around when the idiot ran towards them.

 


	15. Family Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A question is asked, one that could change the universe forever.

**Chapter 15**

**Family Bonding**

Inside Blue Base, in an empty bunkroom, sat an improvised table. Junior and Tucker sat at the table, facing each other and lightly resting their elbows on the surface, lest the whole table topple sideways. Junior's side seemed especially rickety for some reason. He carefully set the old helmet on the table and hooked it up to his datapad once again.

Tucker glanced at the long list of files. "Yeah, this is the helmet I left on Chorus. What's so special about it?"

"It's not the helmet that's special, it's one of the files stored on it, Dad."

"Don't tell me you've looked at my 'home movies.'"

Junior's mandibles twitched as he flipped up the second finger of his right hand at his father. "It's not that. It's something...else."

Tucker's chair  _screeched_ on the crappy linoleum floor as he scooted away from his half-alien son and the old helmet. "I know what's going on. Whenever someone says that in a movie, some fuckin' weird shit is about to happen. No way am I doing that again, dude."

"Not this time," Junior said carefully, scrolling down through the files. "You know that A.I. you had for a while, Epsilon? You ever wonder what happened to him?"

"I know what happened. One minute we were getting ready to fight the space pirates, and the next, there was this splitting pain in my head and the Meta's suit suddenly had a whole fuckton of power that came out of nowhere. Everything happened really fast, and before I knew it, the battle was over and Church was gone again, the fucker."

"What if he wasn't  _really_ gone? Just...moved."

"If you're going to tell me Church has been hiding in my helmet all these years..."

Junior paused his scrolling. He knew this was sounding more and more like some shitty web series some morons cooked up, but how else could he explain it? "I'm not a nerd, so I have no idea how to explain it, but I think he is in here. Not hiding, more like hibernating or something. We just need to get him out."

"And then what? All our problems will magically fucking fix themselves? He's just a fragment of an A.I. The war's over. There's nothing left to fight, so we're done. We don't need Church any more, no matter what Caboose says."

"Well, actually, there might be a problem. I really hate to put you on the spot like this..."

Just then, Wash walked by the doorway, humming what sounded like the theme to some shitty improve game show (probably with a host no one likes).

Junior sighed, and started again. "I think we might have a major problem. You know how there's that prophecy that says I'm the savior for the Sangheili? Well, apparently, Jul M'dama, this old fuck that had been with the original Covenant, thinks that's a load of bullshit and that I'm some sort of freak. He's even started gathering followers. He'd probably even start a war if it meant getting rid of me."

Tucker's helmet tilted reassuringly. "No worries, dude. We'll protect you until this blows over."

Both muttered their catchphrase at the same time. "Bow-chicka-bow-wow."

"Anyway, Junior, what's with that mark on your face?"

"Carolina socked me because I tried picking her up."

"Wait... _WHAT?!?_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear about half of this chapter was just setup for that On the Spot joke. The other half is mostly setup for more plot-related crap, as usual.


	16. Unwrapping (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gift from the past is opened, revealing hope for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the crazy delay, folks. I got a little caught up in some other things and maybe sort of definitely forgot about this. Anyway, have this bundle of fun. I know it's short, but it's setting up for some fun stuff later on when I get around to it.

**Chapter 16**

**Unwrapping (Part I)**

Since his father didn't really believe him abut the helmet file, Junior carried it over to Red Base. Maybe Simmons could open it and prove that there really was something going on. He could see the tall maroon figure standing next to a shorter orange one on top of the base. He walked over and waved up at them. "Hey, Simmons! You're good with computers, right?" Junior called up to them.

"Yeah," Simmons called back. "Why do you ask?"

"I found a file that's encrypted out the ass and I need to get it open."

"Bring it inside and I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Not long after that exchange, junior was standing behind Simmons, watching the man crack open the file. It wasn't long before the file's name was revealed. The name was just a single character, with an extension Junior had never seen before. He looked at the name. It was a strange looking capital E, almost reminding him of the Sangheili glyph for the word "shisno." The extension was just as strange. What sort of computer could run this file?

Slowly, more and more of the file's true nature was revealed. Simmons had explained that the odd glyph was a Greek letter, one that meant "Epsilon." The Epsilon file was designed to run within a standard set of MJOLNIR armor and operate using the suit's internal computer and power supply. In some places, the code of the file looked like it had been broken off of a larger file. Once the entire file was revealed, Junior just knew they had to open and run it. He just had a strange feeling about it, like the file was important for some reason.

Simmons plugged Tucker's old helmet into the computer and ran the file. A few moments later, the helmet's projection system kicked on and whitish-blue light was projected onto the surface of the desk. The light solidified and formed into the shape of a small, armored figure. The figure crossed its arms and almost seemed to glare at them with its simulated visor. Its voice was one none of the Reds and Blues would ever forget. "The fuck is going on? I was supposed to be dead."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you reading this are on the Red vs. Blue Amino, please tell the users HeroicWalrus, OddBall, and Juno that the user The Real North Dakota is fine and can be reached at kuchikiwizard@gmail.com. (Messages from anyone aside from those three will be ignored and deleted.)


End file.
